It is pretty close to maximum hydrangea time here at Tiger Gardens. Since I've already posted about that wonderful time, I think I'll simply post about one of my hydrangeas today. It is Vaughn's Lillie and is a sweet little oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia 'Vaughn's Lillie').
Oakleafs are my favorite hydrangeas because they give year round interest and are very easy to grow. I think they are the easiest of all the hydrangeas and most adaptable. They are drought tolerant and can be grown in a wide range of conditions such as full shade to full sun. They are most splendid. If happy, oakleafs can grow to be very large. This can be a drawback so breeders have begun trying to breed smaller oakleaf hydrangeas. One such cultivar is Vaughn's Lillie.
I had the pleasure of visiting the world renown Don Shadow Nursery in Winchester Tennessee last May with my master gardener group. One of the plants I purchased was this little hydrangea. Hey, how could I pass up a new cultivar (at least to me) of an oakleaf? I've been most pleased with it's performance. This shrub is planted in full shade right next to a mature oak tree. It gets no special care, but just plugs along at it's own pace. In the one year it's been growing here, it has filled out rather nicely and not grown up all that much. See how full it is even in full shade? You can just see the oak tree's trunk in the back lefthand corner of the picture. This oakleaf was bred to remain only about 3-4 feet tall and wide. It is also a double. The blooms are so compact and dense that you cannot see through it at all. A really nice feature of the blooms is that when they begin going by they turn a chartreuse color and remain so for several months, finally turning to a brown. A lovely shrub....
in the garden....
This was not the original post I had planned on posting today. I have tried without luck to get permission to post a lovely garden in Franklin, so this is a back up. Hope you all enjoyed the Garden Tour Week and don't mind the hydrangea.
Final note: As a person who grew up in the 1970s I was most influenced by both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5. Yesterday was a sad day and both of these icons will be missed. I wish for the best for their families in this time of grief.
Oakleafs are my favorite hydrangeas because they give year round interest and are very easy to grow. I think they are the easiest of all the hydrangeas and most adaptable. They are drought tolerant and can be grown in a wide range of conditions such as full shade to full sun. They are most splendid. If happy, oakleafs can grow to be very large. This can be a drawback so breeders have begun trying to breed smaller oakleaf hydrangeas. One such cultivar is Vaughn's Lillie.
I had the pleasure of visiting the world renown Don Shadow Nursery in Winchester Tennessee last May with my master gardener group. One of the plants I purchased was this little hydrangea. Hey, how could I pass up a new cultivar (at least to me) of an oakleaf? I've been most pleased with it's performance. This shrub is planted in full shade right next to a mature oak tree. It gets no special care, but just plugs along at it's own pace. In the one year it's been growing here, it has filled out rather nicely and not grown up all that much. See how full it is even in full shade? You can just see the oak tree's trunk in the back lefthand corner of the picture. This oakleaf was bred to remain only about 3-4 feet tall and wide. It is also a double. The blooms are so compact and dense that you cannot see through it at all. A really nice feature of the blooms is that when they begin going by they turn a chartreuse color and remain so for several months, finally turning to a brown. A lovely shrub....in the garden....
This was not the original post I had planned on posting today. I have tried without luck to get permission to post a lovely garden in Franklin, so this is a back up. Hope you all enjoyed the Garden Tour Week and don't mind the hydrangea.
Final note: As a person who grew up in the 1970s I was most influenced by both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5. Yesterday was a sad day and both of these icons will be missed. I wish for the best for their families in this time of grief.
